I've seen a lot of complaints about Kirk's jump in rank, and on the face of it, they're pretty justified. That isn't at all how rank would/should work most of the time, and its fairly obvious the motivation for it is that JJ Abrams:
a.) wanted to end with the original TOS crew in place and in charge of the enterprise
and
b.) Really, really liked the ending to Star Wars Episode IV.
However, I think it can be explained, at least partially, by a bunch of factors:
1. Kirk is to Pike as Wesley Crusher is to Picard, in that he is his clear favorite and because of that gets placed in somewhat unlikely and seemingly undeserved positions (remember, the REAL rank jump that makes no sense is for Kirk to be named first officer for no reason at all after he's not even supposed to be on the ship, and that is ALL Pike. For a First Officer to save the world and be named a captain makes sense--its just that Kirk never really should have been a first officer). Also, Pike's fascination with the heroism of Kirk's father would likely cause him to place extreme emphasis on Kirk's similar moment--he says as much when he explicitly references it when granting him his commission.
3. There are almost certainly a very large number of vacancies created by the loss of those ships and of Vulcan--meaning LOTS of people are gonna see their careers accelerated by necessity.
3. Kirk DID just save the world acting in the capacity of captain, and making the crucial decision to go right after the Nerada rather than sticking to protocol.
4. Kirk's good looks, youth and heroism make him a terrific pr/recruiting tool/symbol on earth, and in the wake of the tragedy of vulcan, I could also see significant popular support for the young hero who not only saved earth but in the process helped bring justice for the Vulcans (like if Chesley Sullenberger looked like Matt Damon and in the process of landing that plane had somehow killed Hitler)
5. Kirk would be a serious handful for any ordinary captain to reign in if serving in a lower capacity, especially now that he's gotten a taste of the captain's chair. From the very beginning he was constitutionally insubordinate to everyone but Pike, who is now an admiral. Someone like Picard could reign him in I'm sure, but lacking that, you're left with a brilliant and heroic young man who seems in many ways very well suited to be a captain, and extremely unsuited to be anything else.
Its still a bit of a stretch, but not too bad. Put it another way--JJ Abrams was interested in the storybook ending. Well, wouldn't Starfleet be too? If you were someone at Starfleet, wouldn't this story be essentially the exact story you'd want to tell to a Federation shocked, terrified and demoralized by the loss of Vulcan, and perhaps wondering for the first time if Starfleet can really protect them the way it claims? You'd want your most popular figures front and center in the public eye in the most prominent role possible, and right now nobody is more popular than Kirk. That alone might not be enough to make him a captain, but it might serve to keep arguing too fiercely with Pike when he starts pushing for Kirk to be made captain.
It'll be interesting to see how the rest of starfleet sees him though. I mean, I'm sure he's won the loyalty of the crew of the enterprise, but beyond that I bet there are a LOT of career officers who resent the hell out of this hotshot pretty boy admiral's favorite and would just love to kick his ass.
a.) wanted to end with the original TOS crew in place and in charge of the enterprise
and
b.) Really, really liked the ending to Star Wars Episode IV.
However, I think it can be explained, at least partially, by a bunch of factors:
1. Kirk is to Pike as Wesley Crusher is to Picard, in that he is his clear favorite and because of that gets placed in somewhat unlikely and seemingly undeserved positions (remember, the REAL rank jump that makes no sense is for Kirk to be named first officer for no reason at all after he's not even supposed to be on the ship, and that is ALL Pike. For a First Officer to save the world and be named a captain makes sense--its just that Kirk never really should have been a first officer). Also, Pike's fascination with the heroism of Kirk's father would likely cause him to place extreme emphasis on Kirk's similar moment--he says as much when he explicitly references it when granting him his commission.
3. There are almost certainly a very large number of vacancies created by the loss of those ships and of Vulcan--meaning LOTS of people are gonna see their careers accelerated by necessity.
3. Kirk DID just save the world acting in the capacity of captain, and making the crucial decision to go right after the Nerada rather than sticking to protocol.
4. Kirk's good looks, youth and heroism make him a terrific pr/recruiting tool/symbol on earth, and in the wake of the tragedy of vulcan, I could also see significant popular support for the young hero who not only saved earth but in the process helped bring justice for the Vulcans (like if Chesley Sullenberger looked like Matt Damon and in the process of landing that plane had somehow killed Hitler)
5. Kirk would be a serious handful for any ordinary captain to reign in if serving in a lower capacity, especially now that he's gotten a taste of the captain's chair. From the very beginning he was constitutionally insubordinate to everyone but Pike, who is now an admiral. Someone like Picard could reign him in I'm sure, but lacking that, you're left with a brilliant and heroic young man who seems in many ways very well suited to be a captain, and extremely unsuited to be anything else.
Its still a bit of a stretch, but not too bad. Put it another way--JJ Abrams was interested in the storybook ending. Well, wouldn't Starfleet be too? If you were someone at Starfleet, wouldn't this story be essentially the exact story you'd want to tell to a Federation shocked, terrified and demoralized by the loss of Vulcan, and perhaps wondering for the first time if Starfleet can really protect them the way it claims? You'd want your most popular figures front and center in the public eye in the most prominent role possible, and right now nobody is more popular than Kirk. That alone might not be enough to make him a captain, but it might serve to keep arguing too fiercely with Pike when he starts pushing for Kirk to be made captain.
It'll be interesting to see how the rest of starfleet sees him though. I mean, I'm sure he's won the loyalty of the crew of the enterprise, but beyond that I bet there are a LOT of career officers who resent the hell out of this hotshot pretty boy admiral's favorite and would just love to kick his ass.
